Islam is widely misunderstood by Westerners. This means that every time theres a fight in the Middle East, stereotypes fly all over the place and the only thing anyone seems sure of is that its all Americas fault. Recent events in Iraq have the potential to result in civil war within Iraq, and possibly even war across the greater Middle Eastern region, because the conflict is underpinned by a religious divide that has existed for centuries. There are two different groups of Muslims in the world: Sunnis and Shiites.... religionfacts/islam/comparison_charts/islamic_sects.htm Basically, 90% of all Muslims are Sunnis and 10% are Shiites, but within Iraq, Iran, and Yemen, most of the population is Shia. This is why the ruling government in Iran has a strong Shia influence. Sunnis seem to be more conservative, as they dont believe that Mohammed designated a successor, while the Shiites believe that he did (similar to the difference between Jews and Christians, I guess). However, Saddam Husseins previous government was strictly Sunni, and the current terrorists in Iraq are thought to be influenced by ex-military personnel who worked for him. Its probably safe to say that killing Saddam hasnt been fully effective in removing his influence in the country, but we shouldve seen this coming. When America removed the Hussein family from power at the end of the Iraqi War, they put in a new puppet government made up of Shiites. In doing so, they upset the order of the country and I believe thats why the current conflict is taking place. While Shiites make up a majority of the population in both Iraq and Iran, this isnt the case in Syria. The media hasnt done a good job of communicating this, but the conflict in Iraq is a direct consequence of the fighting in Syria last year. The Sunnis in Syria have spread their influence into Iraq, and are uniting with local Sunni forces to try and overthrow the Shia government. This is why people were worried about Iran being able to make a nuclear bomb...... All of a sudden, Americas war makes a lot more sense: its logical for Shiites to be running Iraq, rather than a Sunni dictator, because most of the country is Shia. But these countries have long histories of violent religious conflict. Police officers in Iraq havent been doing their jobs because they refuse to enforce laws on members of their own religious sects. Paul Henry recently made an ignorant comment about America doing a bad job of training the security forces, but Id love to seem him train people to ignore their own religion to enforce laws put in place by a foreign country. Anyway, hopefully that gives you a broader perspective on whats going on. Its not Americas fault, it has nothing to do with oil, and it has nothing to do with Israel. Its just the result of two different religions trying to have power. Again.
Posted on: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 05:55:38 +0000
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